Nothing holds quite the same mystique as the sword. Ever since I
was a kid, playing early versions of the Dungeons and Dragons games
with my friends, and watching movies such as The Princess Bride,
I've been fascinated by swords and weapons. At roughly the age of
thirteen, I began collecting them, starting with this simplistic
Toledo wall-hanger that was about $20. It still hangs on my wall to this day.
At the time it was already old, sitting in an antique shop, with
several others in an umbrella-bucket. They all had stains and discolorations,
and were clearly meant merely as display swords. But as a kid, wanting
a sword, I could handle a $20 price tag. Little did I, or my parents for
that matter, suspect what this was starting.
When I was in college, I went through a phase of "all swords must
be battle ready", but of course that was based on my limited knowledge
of what that meant. As a result, several of my display-only swords
ended up spending some time in storage that was not climate controlled.
The rust in the mesh grip all came from that time.
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